Overview:Joliet Junior College was officially founded in 1901 as a two year addition to High School. The concept was brought to the table by William Rainey Harper, president of the University of Chicago, and J. Stanley Brown, Superintendent of Joliet Township High School. “In essence, this project would establish a space for higher education to interested high school graduates, while separating the role of the university to the research and studies of the intellectual elite”¹. The school originally held an enrollment of six students; today the school has a total for more than 30,000 pupils.
What we thought before: Before the first Junior College, there was a simple split of two different people: Those who attended a University immediately following High School, and those who did not. The split did not allow for thousands of people to attain a certain level of economic achievement. With an ‘extension’ to High School, however, and an associate’s degree, more opportunities were opened up to either the less fortunate, or the less able.
What we think now: Today we see Junior Colleges as general existence in society. They are a necessity to certain students who cannot progress into a four year college for several reasons. Whether it be to ‘buff’ one’s academic resume, or to allow for a closer-to-home experience for the first several years, Junior Colleges have changed quite a few things in traditional education.
What we do now that sort of is like what we did then: Today, there is growing population in vocational and community colleges. These schools are also alternatives to traditional four year education plans, however their plans became more career based. This averted from the Junior College plan of extending High School for two years to complete general education, and began to shift back to the old tradition of attending college for a set career. There are still Junior Colleges, however, and in quite some high numbers. This has therefore created a much more diverse higher educational system.
William Rainey Harper
J. Stanley Brown
Overview: Joliet Junior College was officially founded in 1901 as a two year addition to High School. The concept was brought to the table by William Rainey Harper, president of the University of Chicago, and J. Stanley Brown, Superintendent of Joliet Township High School. “In essence, this project would establish a space for higher education to interested high school graduates, while separating the role of the university to the research and studies of the intellectual elite”¹. The school originally held an enrollment of six students; today the school has a total for more than 30,000 pupils.
What we thought before: Before the first Junior College, there was a simple split of two different people: Those who attended a University immediately following High School, and those who did not. The split did not allow for thousands of people to attain a certain level of economic achievement. With an ‘extension’ to High School, however, and an associate’s degree, more opportunities were opened up to either the less fortunate, or the less able.
What we think now: Today we see Junior Colleges as general existence in society. They are a necessity to certain students who cannot progress into a four year college for several reasons. Whether it be to ‘buff’ one’s academic resume, or to allow for a closer-to-home experience for the first several years, Junior Colleges have changed quite a few things in traditional education.
What we do now that sort of is like what we did then: Today, there is growing population in vocational and community colleges. These schools are also alternatives to traditional four year education plans, however their plans became more career based. This averted from the Junior College plan of extending High School for two years to complete general education, and began to shift back to the old tradition of attending college for a set career. There are still Junior Colleges, however, and in quite some high numbers. This has therefore created a much more diverse higher educational system.
Sources:
History - http://www.jjc.edu/campus_info/history/
Joliet Junior, First Independant Public Junior College - http://fcis.oise.utoronto.ca/~daniel_schugurensky/assignment1/1901guerrero.html
Picture - http://www.jjc.edu/IMAGES/brown.gif
Picture - http://astro.uchicago.edu/vtour/history/harper.gif